Many devices have been developed to assist sports players with practicing sporting actions. Particularly, due to the popularity of golf, many devices have been developed for assisting golf players in improving their swing technique.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,199 by Mike Gonagol, for example, discloses a rigid brace that is attached to both the forearm and the upper arm of the leading arm of a golf player to prevent the arm from bending during a golf swing.
The disclosed device is deemed both uncomfortable and restrictive since the arm is kept straight all the time and the only way for a user to bend his arm is by removing the device from the arm.
A somewhat similar restraining device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,054 by E Jackson and B Myers. This device may be slightly more comfortable since it includes a pliable member that is wrapped around a user's elbow. It also includes an elongated reinforcing member which is removably housed in an open-ended casing within the pliable member. However, even if the reinforcing member is removed, the remaining pliable member would still offer resistance to the arm's movement, thus making the device somewhat inconvenient.
Substantial improvements to such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,048,837; 5,076,587; and 5,472,206 by M Manley et al. The disclosed devices include a forearm brace and an upper arm brace connected in a pivotal point. When the pivot is locked, the golfer cannot bend his/her upper arm and elbow beyond the locked angle. However, unlocking the pivot allows a golfer to freely bend the arm. The pivot is selectively lockable by way of a stop pin which enters into a butting engagement with a corresponding surface. A sensor and an actuator can be used to move the stop pin at an appropriate time so that the golfer may simulate a professional swing, in which the elbow is locked until the ball is addressed, but is able to freely bend thereafter.
Similar arrangements have been adapted for attaching to the golfer's lead arm (U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,837) and the golfer's following arm (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,076,587 and 5,472,206). One disadvantage with the disclosed device is that it is relatively complex and, therefore, more difficult for the user to attach it to the respective arm, and also to manufacture and maintain. In addition, while the device is able to unlock the golfer's arm during the golf swing, it seems less suitable for providing the opposite function, i.e. allowing the user to start a golf swing with an extended forearm, but allow normal flexion-extension, supination-pronation around the elbow joint, as normally occurs in a golf swing. But such functionality may be particularly useful for less advanced golfers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,926 (Coupar) a golf-swing correcting device is described that includes a brace formed of a pair of elongated telescopically arranged members and means to fasten the brace to a user's wrist and biceps so that it extends across the inside of the elbow. This configuration prevents some degree of flexion of the forearm, around the inside of the elbow joint, and requires a somewhat cumbersome means for attachment of the device to the user's arm.
One device for guiding the user's lead arm and restricting the amount of flexion at the elbow is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,837 (Manley). When using this device the golfer is unable to bend the elbow when its pivot control means is locked, and conversely the user is able to bend the elbow when the pivot control means is unlocked. Part of this device's disadvantage also appears to be that it is only axially aligned to the user's arm/forearm. No apparent supination/pronation of the forearm at the elbow joint (as is required in a golf swing) is readily achievable using this device.
United States patent publication no. 2010/0190564 (Lindy Per) discloses a support sleeve to assist a golfer in keeping their arm straight during a golf swing. This support sleeve has at least one pocket extending along the length of the sleeve, and an inserted rod retained inside at least one pocket. The sleeve is worn on the elbow region of the golfer's leading arm, and the inserted rod inhibits bending of the golfer's arm at the elbow region during a golf swing. The disadvantage of the device disclosed in this prior patent application is that the device inhibits bending of the golfer's arm at the elbow joint, which is required at the latter part of a golf swing, known generally as the ‘follow-through’.
Another ‘sleeve-like’ device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,043,163 (Proplesch). This device has two connected sections that are attached by an elastic band that lies along the back of the player's lead arm and across the elbow point (olecranon). This combination of parts that make up this device, and the need to attach multiple components of the device in use provides a time-and-dexterity disadvantage for the user. Added to this is the fact that the tension-limiting component runs across the elbow point meaning that should the normally occurring supination/pronation of the forearm around the elbow joint occur during the golf swing, some degree of discomfort is likely to occur over/around the elbow point, especially over an extended period of use.
Shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,806 (Brennan) is a training device for golfers consisting of a flexible fabric sleeve and a pocket containing a lengthwise concave metallic strip positioned at the outside of the players elbow on the leading arm of the player (left arm for right handed player). Positioning the strip to the outside of the radius of flexion of the joint and over the bony protrusion of the ulna (the olecranon) as a fulcrum causes the strip to audibly deform at a small and precise degree of movement of the joint. The sleeve does not restrict flexion of the elbow, but since a straight arm non-flexed position of the arm is desirably maintained from the backswing and to the follow through, any flexion will cause the metallic strip to audibly emit a clicking sound, alerting the player to erroneous form.
A perceived disadvantage of this type of device for golfers is that it only provides audible feedback for the user, and wherein the user has to then, in a very short period of time, make a physical adjustment to the extension of the forearm around the elbow joint. This takes time and focus, which may detract from the actual rhythm of the golfer's swing, and potentially create errors in the resulting ball strike and flight.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved device for limiting the movement of a player's leading forearm during a sporting motion—especially a golf swing—that is relatively simple and easy to position and which can be adjusted easily to retain the desired amount of extension in the user's lead arm, but still allowing for requisite, and unrestrained flexion of the forearm at the elbow joint, without the user needing to think about the extension/flexion components of the swing pattern.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device that overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of previously known approaches in this field, and would therefore provide a useful alternative.